As TMZ first reported, actor Kal Penn was robbed at gunpoint in Washington, D.C., early this morning, his rep confirmed. The 32-year-old star of the 2004 stoner comedy Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle and its 2008 sequel has been working in the capital for the Obama administration. The D.C. police confirmed a robbery at 1:20 A.M. on the 1500 block of S Street to EW. The actor was accosted by a gunman, who walked up to him and took a wallet and other belongings. Penn gave up his role on the TV show House last year to take the position of an associate director in the White House’s Office of Public Engagement. He is scheduled to star in a third Harold & Kumar film later this year.
Apr 20
2010
03:29 PM ET
'Harold & Kumar' star, Kal Penn, robbed at gunpoint in D.C.
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I blame Foreman.
You would.
I blame the forces of the KEEPER. Its part of his devious plot. If only he had been traveling with Richard Cypher – THE ONE TRUE SEEKER, this would not have happened.
It was obviously Foreman’s brother.
Well, it’s people like me who don’t do it. When your life sucks from the beginning, nowhere to go but up.
OUCH! Maybe Omar wanted his role on Harold and Kumar 3.
This is obviously a symptom of a larger problem.
My Leg Hurts.
I thought it was Taub!!
Kumar got robbed on 4/20?!
That’s like Mel Gibson getting crucified on Easter.
Stop making fun of Indians.
Kumar is funny though.
When I read it, I thought it was supposed to be a joke.
Probably NW, in the residential block near the U St Corridor. Doesn’t surprise me. Glad he’s ok though.
nope, it was Dupont circle
Dupont, huh? Interesting…
Actually, the 1500 block of S street is closer to the U Street Metro stop than it is to the Dupont Circle Metro stop.
@ Frank Lee – It is in between the two and in a decent area, but when you walk anywhere alone at 1 am it is not a good idea.
@Tim. Dupont Circle ends at 16th St. West of it is Shaw — and don’t let any stinkin’ real estate agent tell ya different! The Examiner reported on this as being on this block in NW, near his home. (Note to EW: details matter!)
Isn’t that area technically Logan Circle?
I guess means that Black Cat Bill didn’t get any change from Kal that night.
Black Cat! Black Cat! Lil chaaaage for the homeless. Alright, alright.
I hope he is OK!
On 4/20! They should be honoring him, not robbing him!
for real!
Agreed. I will be having a Harold & Kumar party tonight to celebrate this holy day
LOL Kelly.
That’s what you get for leaving your job to work for a douche like Obama.
still better than working for a douche like you apparently.
Really? He deserves to have a gun shoved in his face because he disagrees with you politically. I guess it makes sense…it’s folks like you that protect the mugger’s right to carry that gun, after all.
Um, no it was the founding fathers who protected that right.
And it’s idiot liberals like you who would protect his mother’s “right” to drill a hole in the back of his head and scramble his brains.
Right, because British minute men will be in any minute to steal his apartment! btw, dead founding fathers aren’t “protecting” his right, modern conservatives make a piece-meal assumption that everyone should be able to carry a weapon, not just hunters and gamesmen, cops, military, etc (all of whom I fully support in their rights to a firearm).
As for the latter remark, it takes balls for you to assert a pro-life stance in the same sentence you defend that mugger’s right to carry a deadly weapon. Pro-life until birth, huh?
And yes, I just now realized that minute men were American soldiers…so, historical eff-up aside, point stays the same.
Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws. Plato
Even if we ban guns, that mugger could still get a gun on what is called the blackmarket. We have an amendment called the 2nd amendment “right to bear arms.” I say we keep it but that is just me.
Bravo
What we are trying to protect is Kal Penn’s right to self defense. Had he been armed this could have been averted, as it is thousands of times each week all over this country.
The liberal anti-gun crowd has insured that Mr. Penn could not protect himself from criminals.
Years ago I heard a statement that went like this: “A conservative is a liberal who got mugged last night”…
I say…Lets legalize grass!!! And give these idiots guns + Grass…
Hey, John… you do realize that it’s already illegal for criminals to possess guns, don’t you? Has been for a long time now. ( It’s illegal to rob people, for that matter, with or without a gun. )
Also, last I heard, it’s still illegal for anybody other than police etc. to carry a gun in D.C.
One way or the other, there’s no way that banning ANYTHING is ever going to keep it from the hands of criminals.
JC, by that logic we should just get rid of all laws because there are lots of people who are breaking the laws that exist now, therefore laws are ineffective. Don’t think that many people would agree with that idea.
Don, for 30+ years D.C. had what amounted to a total gun ban, as well as violent crime rates that were/are as high or higher than about any other place in the U.S.
D.C. also still has some of the most strict gun laws in the U.S.
Yet we’ve all just read a news story about a person being robbed at gun point in Washington D.C.
That seems to be, at least to me, pretty good evidence that banning things just doesn’t work, and that the only people that any law really effects are the law-abiding ones, not the criminals that actually cause the problems.
By the way, no law actually prevents anything; they only define a punishment for a particular act once it’s committed.
Now, personally, I wish Kal Penn had a carry permit and a gun… ’cause then we might be reading about a dead criminal, rather than a robbed actor.
…or we could be reading about a dead actor. I love gun-nuts always assume a gun equals safety for the good guy. You’re right, J.C., the solution is more people with more guns. Come on, use your brain.
Shawn, I am using my brain. I’m also looking at the evidence without any bias or emotional response.
I’m also an ex-cop that’s worked more crime scenes than any of you have likely ever seen. And 90% of the time, it’s the armed defender who’s alive and well after a violent confrontation, while the unarmed defender is usually seriously injured or dead.
Do a little serious research on the subject. You might be surprised at what you find.
What in the world makes your tiny mind think that taking guns away from registered users would keep them out of the hands of criminals? Do you really think the robbers gun was registered? You need help.
The gun wasn’t registered – and if it was, you can’t carry one in DC, so either way the only citizens who have guns here are criminals. Of course, we’re don’t have a vote to change that…
I SO agree with Shaun on this one….we already have enough idiots carrying guns.
Ignorance is a growing epidemic, isn’t it?
wow thats low
Nice way to elevate the tone of political discussion in this country.
lala is a dumbass
so is johnification
Look, disagree with me if you like, but at least I don’t want somebody to hold you up because you do. Have your different opinion and live a safe, healthy, politically active life.
first – i dont come to ew so i can read about peoples personal political preferences… it is kind of an odd forum for a debate on gun control. that said, it is my personal stance that crime is the issue, not guns.
however, you just re-certified your dumbass status with your abortion comment below. good job.
@m. are you kidding me? people ALWAYS debate stuff on ew forums: gun control, anti-vaccine idiocy, politics, whatever. and i actually think johnification has some valid points. when the 2nd ammendment was written, i highly doubt they foresaw it being used for this. the same thing goes for anchor babies. a law used to give slaves the rights of citizens (or something to that effect) is now used totally inappropriately. or the 1st ammendment..that now allows idiots to protest at a soldier’s funeral and say terrible things about a fallen soldier? this society is so idiotic. even moreso, abortion is not a black and white issue, so i’m not clear as to why some of you treat it that way. i hate people sometimes.
Because THAT’s an appropriate way to respond when someone goes through something horribly traumatic. Ugh. Seriously, this comment chain turns my stomach.
I hope Kal is doing okay after such a rough morning.
You are an idiot
I see ignorance is well and alive in the conservative party.
And this is why keeping DC gun laws intact is important!
Also, lala, you seem to be seriously misinformed about how abortions are actually performed.
Seeing how you’ve probably had many, perhaps you would like to enlighten us in how baby murder occurs?
People like you make me want to have abortions for sport.
Baby murder is performed when poor mothers can’t get health care because conservatives hypocritically want to defend the capitalist infrastucture of the current insurance system without touching government-run Medicare.
lala…you are one class act. Now get in the melting pot with the rest of us and simmer down.
lala, for someone who allegedly hasn’t killed any babies, you sure like to talk about it. something to confess, you worthless piece of human trash?
it’s too bad when your mother was pregnant with you she wasn’t mugged and lost the baby.
Wow, lala, I wasn’t attacking you or your beliefs, but I’m glad you that because of single comment on an EW message board, you’ve managed to infer untold amounts about my life and choices. I simply wanted to correct your inference about how abortions are performed. I’d suggest that you look it up on WebMD, but somehow I don’t think that’s really the issue here. I usually don’t let people like lala rile me, but this really struck a nerve. I haven’t, in fact, had any abortions, but it wouldn’t make me less of a person if I had.
When did free health care become a right in this country? We went from the land of opportunity to the land of entitlement and it makes me sick to my stomach
lala – well, just this morning I had a gay, French abortion and it was lovely! Thank you for asking! (BTW – did your mother have any children who lived?)
But the founding fathers gave me a right to shoot squirrels in DC!!!! Who cares if a couple kids get robbed, them’s mah rights!
oh two points John! You’re awesome!
Just in case he was wavering in his decision to leave DC to do H&K 3…
I am glad he is ok and I hope he is doing ok.
And can I ask a question? Is there anything wrong with conservatives believing in what they believe and liberals believing in what they believe in? I hate it when people try to force their beliefs on other people.
I agree with you, and think both of your comments have been pretty good on here. I just get really riled up when people make smart-a** comments like lala.
lala’s comment wasn’t smart at all. All of her comments have been some combination of moronic, ignorant, and evil.
I’m going to take a wild guess and say that lala is a dude.
Yes I am a strong believer in people really thinking about their beliefs. Most people believe in second hand stuff they hear but they never really think about what it is they say. They just say “that is what i read.” People should think for themselves. You have to really know what it is you believe in or your arguments will make you look like an inconsistent fool.
Pretty sure I saw Lala pull this same act for attention on another EW board. Kinda sad really
Well you shouldn’t pay attention to idiots like lala, who I’m sure is busy right now at a klan meeti…er, tea party movement.. just ignore, point and laugh at loonies like this and hope their guns go off in the right way, as in, their heads
You miss the whole point of the story…..THERE GOING TO BE A HAROLD AND KUMAR part 3. AWESOME! We were close to losing an acting icon. How appropriate it was 4-20 when a fellow stoner gets mugged. Irony for sure! This puff is for you Kumar!
DC is for African Americans only. What was this Indian doing there anyway ?
More ignorance. Nice.
I’m sure you will see LaLa at the nice Klan meeting.
What a stupid comment for an obviously uneducated person. You have obviously never been to DC and probably anywhere else for that matter.
I bet the guy who robbed him was black
another idiot. Surprise
they took him for OJ Simpson
It’s sad that Kumar got mugged on 420. So sad indeed…